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Buckingham Shares Email Sent To Former Bandmates
The last few months haven’t been easy for Lindsey Buckingham.

The 69-year-old former Fleetwood Mac guitarist was fired earlier this year, an event that we know now he never saw coming. He revealed to Rolling Stone last week that there was never any indication that he would be forced to leave Fleetwood Mac and was completely blindsided when manager Irving Azoff contacted him during the Grammy Awards to let him know that he was “being ousted” from the band he’d spent the better part of his adult life in.

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Then, on Friday, it was announced that he’s suing Fleetwood Mac to the tune of $12 million – the amount he stood to gain from the band’s 2018-2019 world tour.

But despite how shockingly painful it was for Fleetwood Mac fans to say goodbye to Buckingham’s presence in the band, there’s some comfort in knowing that he fought like hell to stay in the band and settle their differences as evidenced by the emotionally charged email he sent to Mick Fleetwood about a month after his dismissal.

Read Lindsey Buckingham's Emotional Email to Fleetwood Mac
In an email to Fleetwood Mac cofounder Mick Fleetwood written a month after his dismissal, Lindsey Buckingham fought for reconciliation.

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The Email, Dated February 26th, Reads:
“In the month since MusiCares, I’ve tried to speak to both you and Stevie (Nicks), to no avail. I’ve only gotten radio silence this whole time. (I haven’t tried Chris (tine McVie) as I thought she might be feeling a bit fragile.) I even emailed John (McVie), who responded that he couldn’t have contact with me… All of this breaks my heart.

After forty-three years and (with) the finish line clearly in sight, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that for the five of us to splinter apart now would be doing the wrong thing. Wrong for the beautiful legacy we’ve built together. Wrong for our legions of loyal fans who would hate to see the final act be a breakup. Wrong for ourselves, and all that we’ve accomplished and shared together…

If there is a way to work this through, I believe we must try. I love you all no matter what.”

As we reported late last week, Lindsey Buckingham announced that he had filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, citing “breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage” as the basis of his complaint, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone.

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He Issued A Statement To Rolling Stone Regarding The Suit. It Reads:
“Last January, Fleetwood Mac made the decision to continue to tour without me. I remain deeply surprised and saddened, as this decision ends the beautiful 43-year legacy we built together.

Over the last eight months, our many efforts to come to an agreement have unfortunately proved elusive. I’m looking forward to closure, and will always remain proud of all that we created, and what that legacy represents.”

As we reported earlier this year, Buckingham, 69, was fired from Fleetwood Mac and replaced with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Crowded House’s Neil Finn just months before the band was slated to hit the road on a lengthy world tour.

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Thank you for an exciting first night, Tulsa! What a way to kick off the tour!

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How Did We Get Here?
For the most part, Buckingham remained silent regarding his exit from Fleetwood Mac, allowing his former bandmates to tell their side of the story.

This week, he revealed in a tell-all interview that Stevie Nicks was the catalyst for the band’s decision to fire him, citing a phone call with manager Irving Azoff in which Azoff said, “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again.”

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 26: (L-R) Honorees Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac take a bow onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall on January 26, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Taking it to mean that Stevie was quitting the band, Buckingham emailed drummer Mick Fleetwood for answers. When he didn’t hear back, he got back in touch with Azoff to hopefully clear up some of the confusion – and the answer couldn’t have been more shocking.

“Either You Go, Or She’s Gonna Go.”
“I called Irving and said, ‘This feels funny. Is Stevie leaving the band, or am I getting kicked out?’ ” to which Azoff replied with the news he was, in fact, “getting ousted” due to Nicks issuing “an ultimatum: Either you go or she’s gonna go.”

Fleetwood Mac Respond…Sort Of
While no one in Fleetwood Mac has responded to either Buckingham’s tell-all interview or the lawsuit, a representative issued a statement to Rolling Stone:

“It’s impossible for the band to offer comment on a legal complaint they have not seen.

It’s fairly standard legal procedure to service the complaint to the parties involved, something that neither Mr. Buckingham nor his legal counsel have done. Which makes one wonder what the true motivations are when servicing press first with a legal complaint before the parties in dispute.”

Lindsey is right; a 43 year legacy deserved so much more than an ending like this. Here’s hoping that he and Mick, Stevie, John, and Christine can patch things up and find a way to move forward amicably!

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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash"

“Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again.”“Either you go or she’s going to go.”Rumours redoux.Lindsey Buckingham Fought Like Hell To Stay In Fleetwood Mac – And This Letter To Mick Fleetwood Proves It https://t.co/4EjRxEc435

not sure whether this article was already posted here. it's from few days ago when there was that whole flurry of articles, Lindsey Buckingham was trending on twitter and all over social media, and was hard to keep up. threads here are too long for me to wade through and all i can see is people bickering in a true FM / FM fandom drama-filled fashion.

Lindsey Buckingham, Cut From Fleetwood Mac Tour, Sues Bandmates
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Fleetwood Mac in New York in January, before Lindsey Buckingham, second from right, was dropped from the band’s tour.CreditCreditEvan Agostini/Invision, via Associated Press
By Joe Coscarelli
Oct. 11, 2018

Yet another Fleetwood Mac split has turned increasingly sour, and this time Lindsey Buckingham is the odd man out.

Buckingham, 69, sued his longtime off-and-on bandmates — Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood — in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, after an announcement earlier this year that he had been removed from Fleetwood Mac’s 2018-2019 North American tour, which began this month and is scheduled to run into April.

In the filing, Buckingham said that “not a single member of the band” had called to tell him why he would not be included in the lineup despite what he said was a deal with the concert promoter Live Nation to play 60 shows across two years, with each member earning between $12 million and $14 million. Buckingham is accusing band members of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and international interference with prospective economic advantage, according to court documents, and is seeking compensatory damages.

“Last January, Fleetwood Mac made the decision to continue to tour without me,” Buckingham said in a statement. “I remain deeply surprised and saddened, as this decision ends the beautiful 43-year legacy we built together.”

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He added: “Over the last eight months, our many efforts to come to an agreement have unfortunately proved elusive. I’m looking forward to closure, and will always remain proud of all that we created, and what that legacy represents.”

A representative for Fleetwood Mac said the band had not seen the lawsuit, and questioned Buckingham’s “true motivations” in “servicing press first with a legal complaint before the parties in dispute.” (News of the lawsuit was first reported by Us Weekly.)

In a follow-up on Friday, the representative said, “Fleetwood Mac strongly disputes the allegations presented in Mr. Buckingham’s complaint and looks forward to their day in court.”

On Wednesday, Rolling Stone published an interview with Buckingham detailing his firing for the first time. The singer and guitarist, who first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and left in 1987 only to return a decade later, said he was watching the Grammy Awards at home in January when he received a call from the band’s manager, Irving Azoff. Buckingham said that he was told, “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again” and that Nicks had given the rest of the group an ultimatum: either Buckingham had to go, or she would.

Buckingham said in court papers that he later “offered to fly to Maui to meet with Nicks and Fleetwood,” but was “rebuffed by both.”

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The lawsuit states: “While Buckingham was attempting to keep the band together, the other members, secretly and unceremoniously, moved on without him, including hiring contract players to replace Buckingham’s iconic vocals and guitar parts.” (Fleetwood Mac replaced Buckingham with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House.)

Nicks, who was infamously involved romantically with Buckingham in and around the band’s 1970s peak, has spoken extensively over the years about the pair’s rocky creative and personal relationship.

“Fleetwood Mac is a team,” she told The New York Times in 2016, “and when you’re on a team everybody has the same vote — except in this particular team Lindsey has a little bit of a stronger vote than anybody else.” She added: “We argue all the time, but we always have.”

Buckingham said in his lawsuit that he had initially asked Fleetwood Mac to push back its tour three months so that he could put out a solo album, but was met with resistance and decided to delay his release instead. (That album, tentatively titled “Blue Light,” will be out next year, he told Rolling Stone.) He is currently on a solo tour behind a greatest hits collection, “Solo Anthology: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham.”

In a February email to his bandmates, which he included in the lawsuit, Buckingham wrote: “If there is a way to work this through, I believe we must try. I love you all no matter what.”

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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash"

I feel that this is too much. After the long (and classy) time when Lindsey said nothing, he now paints the picture of himself being a saint, treacherously fired from the band, and how he desperately tried to stay in. His lawyers are advising him to play the innocent victim, but they are laying it on really thickly. And this is Lindsey - he has never ever been a saint. I still feel that FM was in the wrong to fire him - especially HOW they did it, but his new strategy is ridiculous for everyone who followed the band for longer.

I feel that this is too much. After the long (and classy) time when Lindsey said nothing, he now paints the picture of himself being a saint, treacherously fired from the band, and how he desperately tried to stay in. His lawyers are advising him to play the innocent victim, but they are laying it on really thickly. And this is Lindsey - he has never ever been a saint. I still feel that FM was in the wrong to fire him - especially HOW they did it, but his new strategy is ridiculous for everyone who followed the band for longer.

i'm not really sure where you are getting that. Lindsey didn't write and titled this article, some journalist did.

if you read Rolling Stone interview with Lindsey, you would notice that both he and Kristen are very mindful to give a balanced picture, she even volunteering without any prompting how he was definitely way more "prickly" when they were first together in the 90s. and he is careful to say that he and everyone else in FM definitely always had a lot of issues, and that it just was what it was and they all lived with each other's problems.

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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash"

i'm not really sure where you are getting that. Lindsey didn't write and titled this article, some journalist did.

Yeah, but you posted it here and a similar article in another thread and now you say that they are not accurate. Maybe you want to explain that, I'm not getting it. I DO know that you really like Lindsey and feel bad for him, and I respect you for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elle

if you read Rolling Stone interview with Lindsey, you would notice that both he and Kristen are very mindful to give a balanced picture, she even volunteering without any prompting how he was definitely way more "prickly" when they were first together in the 90s. and he is careful to say that he and everyone else in FM definitely always had a lot of issues, and that it just was what it was and they all lived with each other's problems.

I read it and I found the "prickly" comment rather honest and bold from Kristens part, the article WAS well balanced. And then? Sharing the e-mails and the general tone of the new articles are painting exactly the picture of an innocent victim that Lindsey, his PR and his lawyers are trying to paint right now. And the fans are lapping it up, even if we all know that Lindsey has never been anyone's victim.

That said, I hope that Lindsey wins the lawsuit (or makes a deal) and the band has to fork over quite some money, because he was part of the band that planned the tour and he deserves a part of the profit.

Yeah, but you posted it here and a similar article in another thread and now you say that they are not accurate. Maybe you want to explain that, I'm not getting it. I DO know that you really like Lindsey and feel bad for him, and I respect you for it.

no i'm not saying it's not accurate. i'm saying that you ascribe to Lindsey the impressions and words written by others, journalists going for click-baits. but i do agree with those impressions and words, personally.

and as i said before, i've been hearing a lot of what is coming out now from different band members' camps since January. so this is not one-sided / LB's side only, all this information that is now finally coming out. and it's not impressions or some made-up stuff. they are just straight facts listed in the order it all happened. at the end of March he was still hoping they can talk and smooth things over.

band tried to project out there an impression since april that LB left the band on his own volition - and certain very loud groups of specific SN-fans on social media have insisted that's the case. now it turns out he tried everything to make them change their mind. it's just putting the facts out there. facts that the band tried to hide.

Lindsey suing now, after he exhausted all other avenues? it's not personal, it's just good business.

it's also clearing his name and legacy, that the rest of the band, especially Mick has been trying really hard to minimize. he would be a foll not to sue them.

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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash"

I feel that this is too much. After the long (and classy) time when Lindsey said nothing, he now paints the picture of himself being a saint, treacherously fired from the band, and how he desperately tried to stay in. His lawyers are advising him to play the innocent victim, but they are laying it on really thickly. And this is Lindsey - he has never ever been a saint. I still feel that FM was in the wrong to fire him - especially HOW they did it, but his new strategy is ridiculous for everyone who followed the band for longer.

I actually understand where you're coming from. There's so many articles in some variation of this going around now it just comes across as too much. But part of me thinks it might be just different websites are using the same original source.

I actually understand where you're coming from. There's so many articles in some variation of this going around now it just comes across as too much. But part of me thinks it might be just different websites are using the same original source.

yes. it's big trending news and everyone is jumping on it. it's a nice distraction from people's everyday lives and worries: bunch of old rock star millionaires still fighting like petty children? and with some clear rights and wrongs? if there were not gonna be FM movies made before, this practically guarantees it!.

the only thing LB camp put out there is RS interview. and they filed the lawsuit. which they didn't make public, RS did.

all the quotes, emails, exhibits, etc - it all comes from those 2 sources. Lindsey's email to Mick was disclosed as a part of the lawsuit filing. different articles just quote different parts from RS interview and the lawsuit. that's why you go to the source - RS article plus the lawsuit that RS dug out and made public - and you will know everything you need to know. you will also know that all the articles are just pulling from those 2 sources and giving their own spin of the day.

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"kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash"

i'm not really sure where you are getting that. Lindsey didn't write and titled this article, some journalist did.

Right, because some journalist abducted Lindsey and forced him at knifepoint to tell all of the lurid, evil workings of the band that made him famous. Of course he had an agenda and the timing of his new greatest "hits" compilation, tour, lawsuit and interview seems more than a bit suspect to me. Since the world is not exactly waiting on his latest solo project, he probably figured, well, scandalous attention is better than no attention at all. Indeed, what were his true motivations?

Quote:

if you read Rolling Stone interview with Lindsey, you would notice that both he and Kristen are very mindful to give a balanced picture, she even volunteering without any prompting how he was definitely way more "prickly" when they were first together in the 90s.

HA! In other words St. Kristen came into Lindsey's life and finally tamed the shrew. She probably has almost as big of an ego as Lindsey. The thing about Lindsey, and arguably one of his greatest strengths, is his ability to keep his s*** together in front of an audience (or in this case, a reporter). You can see all of the cogs and gears spinning around in his head very carefully and with precision - like a Rolex watch. Every word that leaves his mouth is stated with intention, every movement calculated, every gesture rehearsed. You can see that he does the same choreography in concert every night like a robot - every speech committed to memory, every leap, every stoop, every feigned expression of humility, every yelp. It is as creepy as it is awe-inspiring, to be quite honest. So of course he is going to articulate this well-rehearsed story for the media that paints him as the victim and Fleetwood Mac, particularly Mick and Stevie, as savagely brutal.

I don't discount his account outright since we haven't heard FM's side of the story. However, based on what I have read, a lot of things just don't compute, i.e., this notion that the band ditched Lindsey for absolutely no reason at all. There has to be a reason.

I don't discount his account outright since we haven't heard FM's side of the story. However, based on what I have read, a lot of things just don't compute, i.e., this notion that the band ditched Lindsey for absolutely no reason at all. There has to be a reason.

That's the core thrust of the Complaint--there were and always had been various disagreements and the like, but when it comes to something as monumental and final as ejection from the partnership it becomes a question of proportionality, and the point that the Complaint and those supporting Lindsey in this matter are making is that (i) there was no conduct on Lindsey's side that could have warranted a reaction of this proportion, and (ii) if there was, it is highly unlikely that he would have filed this Complaint were he "guilty" and aware of such conduct.

That's the core thrust of the Complaint--there were and always had been various disagreements and the like, but when it comes to something as monumental and final as ejection from the partnership it becomes a question of proportionality, and the point that the Complaint and those supporting Lindsey in this matter are making is that (i) there was no conduct on Lindsey's side that could have warranted a reaction of this proportion, and (ii) if there was, it is highly unlikely that he would have filed this Complaint were he "guilty" and aware of such conduct.

Uh, tons of lawsuits are filed and tossed out due to lack of merit or standing, and tons more result in a loss for the plaintiff. Merely filing a lawsuit says NOTHING about the validity of the allegations in the complaint.

Uh, tons of lawsuits are filed and tossed out due to lack of merit or standing, and tons more result in a loss for the plaintiff. Merely filing a lawsuit says NOTHING about the validity of the allegations in the complaint.

The point that I and others are making is that it would not be in Lindsey's character to launch a lawsuit that had no basis in law or fact.

To quote someone wiser than I:

Quote:

The thing about Lindsey, and arguably one of his greatest strengths, is his ability to keep his s*** together in front of an audience (or in this case, a reporter). You can see all of the cogs and gears spinning around in his head very carefully and with precision - like a Rolex watch. Every word that leaves his mouth is stated with intention, every movement calculated, every gesture rehearsed. You can see that he does the same choreography in concert every night like a robot - every speech committed to memory, every leap, every stoop, every feigned expression of humility, every yelp. It is as creepy as it is awe-inspiring, to be quite honest.